Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Purchase

Purchase Print Copy

Reviews recent trends in international terrorism. Terrorist tactics will persist as a mode of political expression even though no terrorist group has yet achieved its stated long-range goals. Bombing will probably remain the most common tactic. Public perceptions of the level of terrorism appear to be determined not by the level of violence, but by the quality of the incidents, location, and media coverage. Terrorists actually have little need for exotic weapons of mass murder, and for all their bombings, they have thus far seldom used explosives in ways calculated to kill great numbers of civilians. One effect of this growing terrorist threat is a major diversion of resources to internal security — guarded facilities, patrolled communities, security buildings, alarmed homes. A second effect is a growing body of law to deal with politically motivated crime. A third effect is broadened police powers and the creation of special anti-terrorist units.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation paper series. The paper was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.